Loreni

We found the same thing thus we are in the process of changing everything. Believe it or not here is what we are now planning and it is LESS than air to and from Europe with a 12 day cruise on the Mediterranean.

 

New York to Southampton 7 days QM II

TGV (train) Southampton to Barcelona Spain (1 day)

Barcelona to Venice 12 days Regal Princess

Venice to Fort Lauderdale 17 days Regal Princess

 

A cruise dream of a lifetime all for less than flying over and back with a 12 day cruise out of Venice.

 

Isn't retirement Great?? I know that not everyone can do this, and so do the airlines!! :eek:

Not only that, you avoid the discomforts of flying!

Thanks for the tips and links. So, 1,800 is from the Midwest in June, in October, it drops to 1,200. We were actually considering October anyway. For sure, we won't go in August...been there in August and found it much too hot. I was expecting somewhere between $900 and $1200, so October is in line with this.

Does anyone know if we will receive United frequent flyer miles if we use EZ Air. Alternately, would using our United miles for the flight be a good idea?

We are in the planning stages of a 2014 cruise from Venice. I am shocked that the airfare on EZ air is around 1,800 from the US. Does this sound right?

I believe that the Celebrity ships are also over the new size limits that kick in starting in Nov 2014 just like the Royal is.

Yes, but I wonder if they have forward viewing decks from which to enjoy the view before the November ban is fully effective. I think Solstice class do, but it is hard to tell from the deck plans. Still, from the pictures and comments posted, it looks like a forward viewing deck in not really required.

I know people say not to listen to the Royal/Regal haters, but I do have reservations about sailing these ships. Still, on a port-intensive Mediterranean itinerary, it shouldn't be a deal-breaker for us. I sure won't pay extra to be mid-ship as it would actually be an inconvenience for us.....we like to take the stairs. I will cross my fingers and hope the room is not too hot and I probably won't book a balcony. I expect to be pretty tired after visiting the ports, so I won't miss the Promenade too much. But we would never book these ships for the Caribbean where, for us, the ship is the destination.

I agree. I loved the Royal and can't wait for September when I'm on her again. You don't need a forward observation area for Venice. Just go to the port side for awesome views. The ship turns left as it approaches St. Marks so you get any view you would going forward. These are from a friend's balcony:

 

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Thanks, Pam!

I loved being up on deck for both daytime and night sailaways from Venice. The best views of the city are from portside when sailing out via the Guidecca Canal, and IMO, is the place to be.

 

Also .... I am wondering if it was possible that if either the Ocean or Pacific Princess were doing cruises out of Venice, perhaps because of their small size, they would still be able to use the Guidecca Canal.

I think the Ocean is, but it looks like it is already sold-out except, maybe insides.

You definitely don't need a front observation room or deck for the sail in or out of Venice. It will be interesting to see though if any of Princess itineraries are altered because of having to decrease by 20%.

This is a good question and if the Giudecca canal is no longer being used for some sailings, it would not show up on Princess.com.......Venice would just be listed as the port. Calling Princess is not likely to help either, I have generally found the folks on Cruise Critic to be more knowledgable than Princess employees. Still, it doesn't hurt to call and ask. It might be that I would not know for sure until I am there. So, it may not really be possible to plan the cruise around this sail-in/sail-away as much as I might want to.

I want to thank all of you for your help and insights.

Good morning,

 

We sailed on the lovely Royal Princess into Venice in September. It was a great ship and the Grand Mediterranean itinerary was great. Feel free to peruse the photos on my web album that covered the first of several days we spent there (Click the link below....these photos show the sail in and the rest of that day as we took the shuttle back to St Mark's and began our exploration). Hopefully after seeing these many of your questions will be answered. Enjoy.... Mike

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=109156143902673447727&target=ALBUM&id=5928014282009522465&authkey=Gv1sRgCPyy6p3v7-ybUg&feat=email

Hi Mike,

These pictures are very helpful. Thank you!

We wish to visit Venice and Naples in 2014 and if we go on Princess it looks like Regal is our only option. I have often read here that sailing into or out of Venice on the Guidecca canal is not to be missed. It appears that this will no longer be possible on a large cruise ship after November 2014. If this will help preserve Venice, I am glad. Yet, since we plan to sail before November, I would like to have this experience if it is still possible.

Unfortunately, Regal has no forward observation deck. So should we choose another cruise line, if so which one? We like the smoking policy on Princess and Celebrity, so Celebrity could be an option, but last time I checked their itineraries, it looked like they only sailed into or out of Venice at night. Is this correct? Because Princess appears to sail in during the day, but out at night for 2014. I have been searching news stories about the upcoming ban and one said that ships would not be able to sail the lagoon from sunrise to sunset. If this story is correct, then is the Regal itinerary a misprint? I have actually read several conflicting or incomplete news reports on the ban. Please let me know if any of you have found the definitive source for information on this.

Anyway, for those of you who experienced sailing down the Giudecca canal on Royal, was it OK that there was no forward observation deck. Were you still able to enjoy the view? How were you able to see both sides of the canal? If you could not see both sides, were you happy with just one side?

FYI, the package is now available on the Sapphire, according to CC.

 

FYI, I'd take the OBC. Between the soda card and a $5-$5.50 drink per day, I spend $12-13/day, including gratuity.

This is very similar to our spending, so we would never bother with a drink package. I believe what's going on here could be more complicated. Perhaps Princess's trying to shift the passenger demographics. Drinking, smoking, and gambling tend to be linked behaviors...sometimes all three behaviors are linked, sometimes only two of the three. Since Princess is now less friendly to smokers, they may have lost casino revenue. So, having a package that attracts non-smoking gamblers who drink may increase onboard revenue. Also, older people often don't drink as much as younger due to medications. So this package may attract younger, less experienced cruisers who spend more onboard (photos, excursions). And this package makes it easier to poach Celebrity passengers.

I don't think this package will do any harm, and if it makes Princess more profitable, maybe they will stop cutting the food and entertainment budgets.

No reply since August 7th. Did you send them the pictures?

So much for fresh sea air. You may still be breathing that in even if the steward wipes down the furniture.

Loreni--I can answer that question since we were on this same cruise this past April.

The pier hanger is not open anymore to the public and there was no one selling anything when we were there. You walk along the outside of that building when you disembark the ship.

We found that quite disappointing since it was kind of nice to be able to browse the shops while we waited to get back onboard.

Hopefully they will reopen something in the future but it did not look like they were working on anything at the time.

:)

yseone

Thank you!

Thank you for your detailed review and pictures. We are going in a few weeks. Please let me know if you noticed if they are still selling flowers at the pier in Hilo.